YouTube RPM vs CPM: what's the difference?

CPM (cost per mille) is what advertisers pay for 1,000 ad impressions on your videos. RPM (revenue per mille) is what you keep per 1,000 views.

Why is RPM lower than CPM?

• YouTube keeps 45% of long-form ad revenue.
• Not every view shows an ad: ad blockers, Premium members and non-monetized videos count as views but earn no ad revenue.
• RPM also includes other income such as YouTube Premium and channel memberships, so it can be higher than expected on some channels.

As a rule of thumb, RPM is about a third to half of CPM. When estimating your earnings, look at RPM, not CPM.

Which one does our calculator use?

Earnoscope uses RPM because it shows what you actually keep: monthly revenue = views × RPM ÷ 1,000. Every rate we use is listed with its source on our methodology page.